Comments And Discussion

As often happens, my response to a couple comments under the previous post expanded into a post in itself. It's only proper to question claims as serious as "failed state" and "police state". Further discussion was indeed warranted, and is still welcomed. 

Let’s present the content here instead of in a long thread.

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Tyrell (TP):

From failed state to police state, huh? I don't think so, my friend.

While leftists have done what they could to either ignore or undermine our constitution (yes, some militant right-wingers are also guilty), America is still not a failed state. Even for Americans of color, there is more prosperity, opportunities, and freedom in America than nearly anywhere else in the world.

Further, if the Democrats were to recapture the White House and both chambers of congress, this would not become a police state either, since the Democrats are seemingly bound and determined to eliminate the police in most major metropolitan areas. That, of course, is another knee-jerk reaction, the ramifications of which has not evidently occurred to these brilliant leaders of ours.

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TB3:

Oh, I'm waiting with bated breath on a further elaboration on how "leftists" ignore or undermine the Constitution AS WELL as reconciling the ongoing demonstrations with the phrase "Even for Americans of color, there is more prosperity, opportunities, and freedom in America', TP.

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I thank the gentlemen for their remarks. 

It’s always revealing that our conservative friends are so reluctant to cite any of my points or opinions offered, and provide facts or information that contradicts them.

I suppose they think just stating their beliefs accomplishes that.

I, too, would love to see further elaboration, and of course evidence, to support TP’s assertions. Historically the pattern would indicate none will be forthcoming.

I don’t know how any “leftists” ignore or undermine the Constitution, since they wield very little power to do so. Maybe this is a red herring to deflect from the blatant abuses of our Constitution by the Republican Party and Donald Trump?

Remember when Moscow Mitch refused to follow the Constitution and hold a vote for a Supreme Court Justice nominated by the Black President? Remember how we used to have Constitutional checks and balances, and administrations would comply with oversight and obey lawful Congressional subpoenas? Remember how Constitutional impeachment trials would allow for actual evidence and testimony?

Rightists love to deflect form these horrible abuses of our Constitution.

The Republican Party has become a gutless cult, serving their criminal and corrupt racist leader. Rep. Justin Amash alone had the moral decency to leave the Republican Party. Mitt Romney was the only Republican In DC with a conscience to vote Trump guilty of his criminal attempts to bribe and blackmail a foreign leader to help win his upcoming election. (Article 2, Sec. 4) That doesn’t bother them any more than Trump’s criminal payoff to a porn star.

It seems "Constitutional conservative" has become an oxymoron.

Remember the First Amendment provisions for a free press? Totally demonized by the Tangerine Tyrant for not kissing his ring. Remember the First Amendment “right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”?

We have numerous videos of cops gassing and clubbing peaceful protesters, for protesting police violence. Like a police state.

We have a president who said, “I will fight to protect you. I am your President of law and order, and an ally of all peaceful protesters." Minutes earlier it was as if he ordered: "OK, Barr. Smash and gas those peaceful protesters so I can have my Bible photo-op." This is exactly the behavior of a dictator's failed state, verging on a police state.

Even high ranking former Trump officials and other military leaders have called out his lawlessness. Retired Air Force Generals Mark Volcheff and Richard Myers, Admirals Mullen and McRaven, Army and Marine Generals Powell, Kelly and Mattis were just a few of those senior military men outraged by this flagrant and criminal violation of our Constitution.

But, I am open to hearing evidence on how “leftists” are the guilty ones.

I would concede the terms “failed state” and “police state” do not generally apply to wealthy white Americans. They are doing swell. After all, they comprise almost all the economic elites served by a bought and paid for Congress and White House sympathetic to the rich over everyone else.

We are a failed state when it comes to our founders’ ideal of consent of the governed as stated in the Declaration of Independence. We are certainly a failed state if the standard is equal justice under law. Only privileged and rural whites still believe this myth. Voter rights and registration depend on Republican leniency and what color your neighbors are. Republicans, in their open war on democracy, shut down the League of Women Voters from helping with registration. Qualified voters have been purged from rolls. Poll access is another unequal proposition.

Note that I am not including voter ID to counter wildly inflated claims and blatant lies of voter impersonation. Major election fraud has recently been the domain of Republicans. Trump’s taxpayer funded witch hunt for “millions of illegals voting” came up empty.

The Electoral College is a vestige of slave state demands. It is antithetical to representative democracy. The same is truth for the imbalance of representation and power in the Senate. These are direct and intentional impediments to the consent of the governed. The fact is our country was founded by wealthy white men, many being slave owners. Women and African Americans waited over a hundred years for the right to vote. Now we have an authoritarian political party working to reduce the number of voters and their access to their right to vote.

Republicans would prefer Americans standing in line, risking death and disease in a pandemic, rather than allow mail-in ballots.

So yes, the state has failed, and is actively failing, its citizens regarding voter rights and fair elections. The state has failed, and is actively failing, policing the police and providing equal justice under law.

Racial profiling and a long history of police brutality against minorities indicates another characteristic of a failed state. “Qualified immunity” is a concept that protects abusers in law enforcement and is antithetical to justice. Unaccountable police violence is a characteristic of a police state. Tyrell might even agree with this point.

And I agree that Americans of color have “more prosperity, opportunities, and freedom in America than nearly anywhere else in the world.”

The qualifier I would add is “generally” people of color having more prosperity, opportunities, and freedom than “nearly anywhere else”. The last qualifier is important. People of color have opportunities, better health care and better education in other countries.

We certainly have nothing approaching equal opportunity in this country.

Also “driving while black” is one of the freedoms that still eludes many, if not most, African Americans. Anyone who dismisses their real fear of racist cops is uninformed or willfully ignorant.

Trump and Sessions gutted federal measures for police accountability.They drastically limited abilities of federal officials to use court-enforced deals to require reforms at police departments.

I would also love to see evidence that “Democrats are seemingly bound and determined to eliminate the police in most major metropolitan areas.”

Reform is not removal, and the Right stands firmly opposed to reform.

It’s interesting that the Right sees a protester’s “defund the police” sign and assumes it is the Democratic Party platform to eliminate police. Nowhere have I seen a sign demanding “Eliminate the police”. Could that be the real “knee jerk reaction” projected upon Democrats?

This isn’t unusual, since the Right sees things that are not there. They see commies under progressive beds and the Devil between their sheets.